In 1724/1725, the Magdeburgers brought some sort of lawsuit against FW at the Imperial Court?
I was busy looking into this, and I still haven't found it, but what I did find was very interesting.
Brandenburg had possessed the expectation of certain limited rights in Limpurg since 1693...When the last count died in August 1713 without male heirs, Brandenburg-Prussia occupied the territory. This prompted the widowed countess to appeal to the Reichshofrat to secure the continued autonomous existence of the county. The Reichshofrat subsequently sent the Emperor a report, which related that 'Prussia invaded the Limpurg lands with a whole battalion, and even failed to spare the widowed countess’s castle from being occupied by soldiers.'
Citation: "Imperial law versus geopolitical interest: the Reichshofrat and the protection of smaller states in the Holy Roman Empire under Charles VI (1711-40)", Patrick Milton, a heavily footnoted academic paper from 2015 with primary source citations (including envoy reports), available here.
The difference being that FW recognized imperial authority and grudgingly backed down when the Reichshofrat told him to. I guess he *didn't* start a war of aggression over it.
But yeeeeeah. Between this and FW's decision to go to war to get Swedish Pomerania in 1715, I'm at least half side-eyeing that political testament.
ETA: This table looks so much better in preview. Sigh.
HRE politics
I was busy looking into this, and I still haven't found it, but what I did find was very interesting.
Brandenburg had possessed the expectation of certain limited rights in Limpurg since 1693...When the last count died in August 1713 without male heirs, Brandenburg-Prussia occupied the territory. This prompted the widowed countess to appeal to the Reichshofrat to secure the continued autonomous existence of the county. The Reichshofrat subsequently sent the Emperor a report, which related that 'Prussia invaded the Limpurg lands with a whole battalion, and even failed to spare the widowed countess’s castle from being occupied by soldiers.'
Citation: "Imperial law versus geopolitical interest: the Reichshofrat and the protection of smaller states in the Holy Roman Empire under Charles VI (1711-40)", Patrick Milton, a heavily footnoted academic paper from 2015 with primary source citations (including envoy reports), available here.
ignoring legal female heir
ignoring legal female heir
The difference being that FW recognized imperial authority and grudgingly backed down when the Reichshofrat told him to. I guess he *didn't* start a war of aggression over it.
But yeeeeeah. Between this and FW's decision to go to war to get Swedish Pomerania in 1715, I'm at least half side-eyeing that political testament.
ETA: This table looks so much better in preview. Sigh.